"Only Nations Living in the Past Produce Martyrs"

February 16, 2009

memri

February 2, 2009: Iraq's Islamic Movement "Lives in the
Past... The Iraqi People... Chooses Life Over Death"

Iyad Jamal Al-Din: "The Islamic movement that
rules in Iraq lives in the past - especially the political forces
that raise the banner of the martyrs, and base themselves on a
history of being oppressed, without taking into consideration the
bright future.

"The Iraqi people is a living people. It chooses life over death.
The religious discourse in Iraq sanctifies death, the dead, and the
martyrs, who are viewed as a cultural asset. This discourse does
not sanctify the living. If you want to be sanctified, to become
immortal, you must first be killed. This runs counter to the will
and aspirations of the Iraqi public.

"It is also noteworthy that the religious forces ruling Iraq formed
a coalition out of fear, not love. They are afraid of the 'other' -
sometimes this 'other' is secular, other times Sunni, and
sometimes... the 'other.'"

Interviewer: "Even though they are the
rulers."

Iyad Jamal Al-Din: "Yes. They did not become close
out of love. They do not share any friendship and do not agree on
joint political principles. The only thing they share is fear of
the 'other,' and if there is no such 'other,' they create one in
their imagination, in order to intimidate their followers and
become close to one another."

January 30, 2009: "There Isn't a Single Living Leader in
the Islamic Movements... Only Nations Living in the Past Produce
Martyrs"

Iyad Jamal Al-Din: "The secular or liberal
movement looks to the future, not to the past. They do not cry
about the past. They don't have a Wailing Wall. There are no dead
people among the liberal or secular leaders. In the Islamic or
religious parties - whatever you want to call them - you see the
living hiding behind pictures of the dead, or martyrs. All their
leaders are martyrs. There isn't a single living leader in the
Islamic movements who can say: I am your leader. He may be alive,
but behind him there is a giant five-meter-tall picture of a
martyr."

Interviewer: "They are trying to evoke..."

Iyad Jamal Al-Din: "They are evoking dead
leaders."

Interviewer: "This may be a good thing."

Iyad Jamal Al-Din: "Some people may view this as a
positive thing, but this people is a living people, which looks to
the future, not to the past. If you want to rely on the past -
okay, no problem. But if you are alive, and led by a dead person -
this means you must die yourself in order to become a leader.

"Living nations produce living leaders, not martyrs. Only nations
living in the past produce martyrs. They take pride in their past
more than they look to the future."